


Break A Leg

by Flameo_Hotman



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ALMOST Character Death, AND RIGHTLY SO, But only not permanently, Doctor Katara is hearing none of your shit, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), I meant for this fic to be only 5 chapters, In this house we hate Zhao, It is Zhao hating hours, M/M, Shut up and let her heal you, The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar (Avatar), Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Zhao being Zhao, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko breaks his leg like the little theatre nerd that he is, Zuko faints like the victorian child that he is, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko loses his bending, and now I have no idea how long this fic is going to be, but I gave up when the first chapter ended up being 11k words long, cuddle or die, so I split it into three chapters, zuko has daddy issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26212507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flameo_Hotman/pseuds/Flameo_Hotman
Summary: In theatre, a common turn of phrase wishing one good luck is break a leg. But Zuko is pretty sure that it wasn't meant to be taken literally. But knowing something didn't change the fact that he now found himself traveling with the Avatar and his friends without his fire bending and in the care of Sokka. AKA a snuggle or die fic because if I am going to break Zuko's leg and take away his bending then Sokka has to cuddle Zuko.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 100
Kudos: 819





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> Thank you to my beta reader team H_Faith_Marr, Scar-And-Boomerang, and 1Zukoneedsafamily2.  
> A gift for MuffinLance. I told her I wanted to write a gift fic for her and asked what she wanted from it. She said Zukka with Zuko joined the Gaang in season one. I told her I was going to have to break Zuko's leg to make it happen. We both were happy about the idea.

Their final ladder fell just short of the wall, and though Zuko’s hand shot out and grasped the edge for a moment, it slipped, and he fell. As he tumbled down past the Avatar, he saw the child air bending to soften his own landing.

The time to the ground wasn’t enough for him to right himself totally, and when his feet landed, there was a sharp pain that shot up through his right leg.

Zuko stumbled for a moment, before catching himself on the young Avatar.

_“Let’s hope I only sprained it. I do not have the time for a broken leg,”_ Zuko thought desperately to himself as Zhao’s men surrounded them in a semi-circle backing them against the gate.

The soldiers readied to attack, but that attack would never come because the Admiral shouted, “Hold your fire! The Avatar needs to be captured _alive!_ ”

Zuko didn’t hesitate.

Steadied by resting one hand on the Avatar’s shoulder, he drew one of his swords and held it against the child’s throat. Zhao wouldn’t risk losing the Avatar to the cycle. Not when he was within the man’s grasp.

Zhao frowned, but then looked the pair over, and the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smirk.

“Open the gate.”

A soldier tried to argue against it, but Zhao shut him down, and the gate behind them creaked open. Zuko limped backward, braced against the Avatar as though the child was a living crutch, his sword still held against the Avatar’s throat.

But the message was clear.

Admiral Zhao knew the Blue Spirit was mortal and had injured his leg and would be more than happy to use that intel to track him down.

The only way out of this was getting the Avatar back to his ship before that happened. Once there, he could give the order to set sail for the Fire Nation immediately and avoid the man discovering it was Prince Zuko who’d stolen the Avatar.

It was slow going, and the last thing Zuko remembered before plunging into darkness was the whistling of an arrow.

* * *

Slimy limbs wriggling about was the first thing that registered, as Sokka came to. The next thing to register was that slimy wriggling was a **_frog in his mouth_ ** **!**

Sokka spat the creature out and shrieked.

Aang frantically tried to explain something about an old herbalist and frozen frogs, but Sokka took in none of that as he spotted the sleeping form of none other than _PRINCE ZUKO_ laying on their spare bedroll laying on his back.

“What is he doing here!?” Sokka shouted, already trying to leap up from his spot on Appa, only to fall flat on his face, not having bothered to first wrestle his way out of the sleeping bag.

Aang stepped between him and the fire bender waving his hands frantically and answering, “I got captured, and Zuko freed me! He-”

“He was probably planning on taking you prisoner himself!” The water tribe warrior shouted back, astonished, and amazed by Aang’s foolishness.

Katara took his side, saying, “He has been chasing us all along the coast trying to kill us, Aang!”

“He’s hurt!” Aang pleaded, “What was I supposed to do? Just leave him behind?”

“YES!” Sokka loudly scoffed, finally freeing himself from the prison of his sleeping bag and standing up in shock.

A groan came from the bedroll, and the fire bender in question suddenly shot up only to lurch to the side. He would have fallen flat on his jerk bending face if Aang hadn’t rushed over and caught him.

There was panic in those golden eyes, and Sokka went still.

“RELEASE ME!” Zuko snarled, as he jerked away from Aang and stepped back with his right leg only to curse and fall on his ass.

That didn’t stop the sudden, angry torrent of words spilling from his lips, “Where am I?! I will not be your prisoner! How dare you-”

“Calm down!” Aang pleaded, despite the chaos and then turned back to the water tribe siblings. “Please, he saved me. The least we could do is-”

But Katara, ever the mother hen, was already racing over and grabbing Zuko’s leg to check it over. Not even being her enemy could save you from her worrying, if you were injured.

“Let go of me!” Zuko snarled, but he seemed to know better than to fight her off as her fingers probed his ankle.

The fire bender winced, and Katara sighed, “You broke your ankle. We can give you a ride back to your ship, but you’ll have to-”

“NO! Don’t!” Zuko pleaded, fear flooding his usually fearsome features.

_That was odd…_

Sokka strode over to get a better look at the fire bender, as he demanded, “And why shouldn’t we? Would you rather us just leave you here to die?”

Zuko, for all his shouting, was suddenly very quiet.

He swallowed as he glared at Sokka, but absolute terror was hiding in those eyes. And now that Zuko’s mask had slipped, there was no putting it back.

“You’re the prince of the Fire Nation. I’m sure that once returned to your ship, you’ll be given the very best medical care that _your_ people have to offer,” Sokka retorted, curious as to why Zuko was refusing help. “Are you that proud, that you somehow magically don’t need help and can make the trek back to wherever your ship is docked on a broken leg?”

“A broken ankle, Sokka,” Katara corrected.

Zuko shifted awkwardly for a moment before he sighed and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Admiral Zhao knows that the person who stole the Avatar from him injured his leg. If I go back to my ship and he visits…”

“So? You’re the prince,” Sokka pointed out, his confusion mounting.

Katara was working to tie a makeshift split around the fire bender’s ankle, as he answered, “The _Banished_ Prince who just committed an act of treason. If I- If he realizes I- I’ll probably be taken into custody and sent back to the Caldera for execution.”

_The Banished Prince?_

No one said a word for a few minutes. Sokka and Katara met Aang’s eyes, and the two of them relented to what they knew their friend’s judgment would be.

“Then come with us!” Aang said with a smile. “And once your ankle is done healing, we can take you back to your ship!”

Zuko’s eyes shot open in shock and suspicion.

“Why would you help me? I’m your enemy,” Zuko asked, almost threateningly.

Aang smiled and sat down next to him, as Katara returned to her work, and said, “Because you’re hurt and need help.”

“I don’t understand. I’m your enemy. I am trying to capture you,” Zuko reminded Aang, and Sokka never thought he would ever agree with this jerk bender, but they really were taking a huge risk bringing him with them.

Katara butt in and crossed sides to join Aang, saying, “Well, I’m your doctor now, and if returning to your ship would get you killed, then I can’t allow for you to leave our sights until you are safe to travel on your own. So deal with it. You’re coming with us.”

“Katara!” Sokka squawked, but he shut up when she glared at him. There was no arguing with her when she got like this.

Then she gave him a wicked smile and added, “Thank you for volunteering to help, Sokka. You are absolutely right. Zuko can’t walk on his own and will need someone to carry him around.”

“But he didn’t-” Zuko began, but Katara cut him off, saying, “Sokka definitely volunteered. You heard him, didn’t you, Aang?”

Aang gave a big smile and confirmed, “He definitely did! Thanks, Sokka! We should probably pack up camp and leave now, though. Zhao probably has soldiers searching the forest, looking for us right now.”

“Fine, but don’t think I’m happy about this for a single moment,” Sokka grumbled.

Katara laughed, “Yeah, but you’re never happy.”

Sokka sighed and looked back at Zuko, who was looking at their group in shock and confusion. But questions could wait until they were safely in the air and headed as far away from this place as possible.

* * *

Zuko sat in silence, from his seat on the sky bison’s back ( _Appa, the Avatar had called the giant creature Appa.)_ and watched as the three packed up camp.

There was a swelling of confusing emotions inside of him.

Why were they helping him? He was their enemy. They should be glad to leave him behind, where he would suffer Zhao’s fury. He wouldn’t be a problem for them anymore that way.

He was grateful that they had decided to save his life, but it didn’t make any sense to him. Only his uncle would be willing to risk his life for Zuko. So, what exactly did his enemy gain by helping him?

Appa rumbled soothingly.

Okay, Uncle and Appa were willing to risk their lives for him.

Zuko wasn’t about to argue with a ten-ton fluff ball of fur.

And at least traveling with the Avatar would help Zuko keep tabs on the Avatar until he was ready to go back to chasing him. Something he wouldn’t do until after he had returned to his ship. It wouldn’t be honorable to capture Aang before then. Not when the monk was providing him with safety.

_Not that he had any honor left._ Zuko hadn’t had honor since his father had stripped him of it.

But the rules of hospitality required that he be gracious to his hosts.

A thought passed through his mind that maybe they were planning to throw him from the sky bison’s Appa’s saddle once they were in the air. That way, they would be sure they were actually rid of him.

That made more sense to Zuko.

Appa rumbled again, but this time to tell the fire bender that Aang would never stoop so low. 

Aang was an air bender after all, and despite what he had his tutors had told him, air benders were not murderers. After two years of banishment, Zuko still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that scholars had managed to get that information so wrong when writing up the Fire Nation curriculum. One had to look no further than the Western Air Temple to realize that.

Still, Sokka or Katara might pitch him from the saddle while Aang wasn’t looking and claim that it had been an unfortunate accident.

_Think. You can’t let yourself die without your honor._

“I can be useful,” Zuko suddenly offered as Sokka was finishing with strapping down the final bag to Appa’s saddle. “I can clean and cook and read maps.”

“I already know how to read maps, and Katara does the cooking and cleaning,” Sokka said as he settled into the saddle across from the fire bender.

Zuko continued with his list of skills, “Okay, I can also use my bending to light cooking fires and cauterize wounds if needed. I also have a fair number of plays, songs, and poems memorized, so I can provide entertainment if needed.”

Sokka looked at him strangely but didn’t say anything.

Taking that to mean, he hadn’t proved his worth to the group, Zuko barreled on, “I can’t run away, so I can help with the night watch. It is in my best interests that no Fire Nation sneak up on us, while I am with you.”

“Night watch? Why would we need that?” The Water Tribe warrior asked.

Zuko stared at him in shock before answering, “You are being hunted by the Fire Nation and you don’t have a night watch? I could have just snuck up on you guys while you were sleeping and captured the Avatar that easily? This whole time?”

“Okay, we need a night watch. You just made a terrifying point,” Sokka sputtered. “After the pirates, we should have realized that. I can’t believe I was so stupid!”

“You aren’t stupid,” Zuko said, panicking. If he somehow insulted them, he was definitely getting thrown from the saddle. “You guys are clearly masters of evasion. Figuring out where you lot will be next always evaded me and my men!”

“Evasion?” Aang laughed as he steered Appa out from the temple to even ground where they could take off. “I was just showing Katara and Sokka different places that I use to travel to.”

“You what-” But the rest of Zuko’s sentence was cut off when the child had the sky bison take flight, and Zuko shrieked.

Sokka snickered at him, “What? Don’t like flying?”

Zuko growled at the other boy and scowled.

* * *

It was nearly noon, and Zuko still hadn’t returned to the ship.

Iroh was more than a little worried.

He was under no impression that his nephew had simply snuck off from The Dragon’s Claw, to go for a morning walk. Zuko had most definitely gone after the Avatar last night. Or perhaps the worse option was that the boy had decided to watch over Pohuai Stronghold, out of fear that Admiral Zhao had captured the child.

If that was the case, and Zuko was still yet to return, that could only mean one thing.

Zuko had been captured and taken prisoner.

And Agni help the cretin if Zhao had laid a hand on General Iroh’s child.

There would be no safe harbor for the worm slug to hide.

* * *

It was nearly noon, and Zuko hadn’t said a single word, once Appa was in the air.

Usually, Sokka would be content to enjoy a short nap and just talk with his sister and Aang, but these weren’t normal circumstances. The prince of the _Fire Nation_ was traveling with them now. 

And he would be for the foreseeable future, or at least until his ankle healed.

That would take at least a month and a half, possibly longer, according to Katara. She couldn’t be sure of how much damage Zuko had done to it due to the swelling and insisted on freezing a small block of ice for the jerk bender to help with that.

Sokka wasn’t sure which would be worse.

A Zuko who was stuck with them for a few weeks, before he was ready to go back to hunting them, or a Zuko who took a while to heal and was stuck with them for months. Both held their own risks.

But that wasn’t the only thing leaving Sokka just as silent as the brooding fire bender…

No, there was the odd sense of worry that was churning in his stomach.

Zuko was afraid.

And well, if what Zuko had told them was true, then he should have calmed down once they had put some space between them and the stronghold. Instead, he almost seemed even more fearful. He was sitting all the way over on the other side of the saddle from him and Katara.

The silence was deafening.

Sokka didn’t like silence.

Growing up in the South Pole had taught Sokka that silence was a bad omen.

Their tribe was sat close enough to the otter penguin fields that there was always the sound of squawking penguins in the distance. A comforting melody that carried the tribe through their days. A living alarm system that alerted them to danger with their sudden silence.

The penguins had gone silent the morning that the Fire Nation killed his mother.

So he broke the silence, not wanting to hear another second of the dreadful sound.

“So... You’re banished, huh?” Sokka asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

Zuko looked up, from the slowly melting ice on his ankle, at Sokka, and answered, “Yes.”

“You must have done something pretty bad to get banished by the Fire Nation,” Sokka said, and Zuko looked back at the ice on his ankle.

“Sokka!” Katara snapped, “You shouldn’t say something like that!”

“What? It’s true. Prince Jerk Bender got banished from Jerk Bender Nation. It must have been something pretty bad,” Sokka scoffed.

He’d meant it more as a joke to goad Zuko into stealing his curiosity about exactly something like that even happens. He was the prince after all, and princes don’t just get banished for nothing.

What he hadn’t been expecting was for the fire bender actually to answer the question.

“I dishonored myself and brought shame to the Fire Lord.”

The look of pure shame that crossed over the guy’s face did nothing to ease any of Sokka’s worries. But before Sokka could ask what Zuko had done to “ _dishonor himself”_ and _“bring shame to the Fire Lord,”_ Zuko was already explaining.

There was a sorrowful and desperate edge to Zuko’s voice as he talked.

“I spoke out of turn when I sat in on my father’s war council and was ordered to fight an Agni Kai,” Zuko began.

Aang’s head whipped around to stare at the fire bender’s face in pure abject horror at Zuko’s words, and Sokka felt his heart drop into his stomach. Because it wasn’t actually Zuko’s face that Aang was looking at…

It was his scar.

Zuko, however, didn’t notice and continued with his story, saying, “At the time, I’d thought I would be fighting the old general that I had spoken out against, but I was wrong. And when I’d turned around to face my opponent, it was my father. I showed shameful weakness and refused to fight… My father banished me for that shameful weakness, and he was right to do so.”

“Wait? So your dad banished you because you wouldn’t fight him in some Agni Kai?” Sokka asked, suddenly very confused. “But you’re his kid. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“That doesn’t absolve me of my crimes or protect my honor from being lost,” Zuko answered, as though that explained everything.

It didn’t, but Sokka didn’t think that he would be able to get any more answers out of the guy for the moment, so he decided to change the subject.

“Sooo… Cool looking scar? Was it some sort of training accident or-” But Sokka didn’t get to finish that question because Zuko glared at him and snapped, “Do you seriously think banishment was the only price I paid for what I did?! If so then you are even greater fools than I was! Pain and suffering were made to be my teachers! Do not dare to think for a single moment that you understand what I have been through.”

Sokka felt ice flood his senses as his stomach turned violently.

_The Fire Lord did what?!_

_And to his son no less?!_

“Shit… That has to be one of the worst things someone has ever told me,” Sokka managed around the rile bile in his throat. “Your father is an actual monster.”

Zuko actually spat fire in his following fury. (And Sokka was suddenly horrified by the fact that it was pretty hot but also pretty terrifying.)

“MY FATHER IS A GOOD MAN! HE DID THIS OUT OF LOVE!” Zuko bellowed at him, a desperate edge to his voice. Almost as though this had been a mantra, he had been repeating to himself. Desperate to believe that there had been love behind these cruel and inhuman actions.

The scar looked old. At least a few years.

Sokka nearly threw up as he realized what that meant.

Sweet Tui and Lah, Zuko had been banished as a kid. (Technically, Zuko was still a kid, but the moment Sokka accepted that, he would have to recognize that so were him and Katara. And they were helping an even younger kid fight in a war.)

What Sokka couldn’t ignore was that Zuko, _Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation_ , was in no uncertain terms an abuse victim. No one just thought being mutilated by a parent and tossed out in the cold was a sign of anything even remotely close to love, unless someone had conditioned them to believe that kind of thing.

It was suddenly very hard to find it in him to hate Zuko.

No, instead, he glanced over at Katara and Aang and saw the three of them were on the same page.

They would be keeping Zuko.

They were probably the safest place in the three nations for Zuko.

* * *

His father loved him… _Right?_

Zuko had to believe that… If he was wrong… If he was wrong, it would break him wide open. Revealing just how broken he felt inside.

He couldn’t hold back the tears that fell from his good eye.

His throat burned painfully, as he held back choked sobs, shaking silently in pain.

_Agni, please… Don’t let them see me like this._

They were the enemy, and yet… They were treating him with more kindness than his father ever had. It left him reeling.

If they did see him crying quietly, they didn’t say.

They flew for the better part of the day. No one dared to speak after the disastrous attempt at a conversation earlier. The evening was starting to set in when they finally landed for the night.

Zuko felt empty, as Sokka helped him down from Appa’s saddle.

He hadn’t felt this cold since the early days of his banishment.

Sokka tried to say something to Zuko, but his ears felt like they were full of cotton, and Zuko furrowed his brow at the warrior. A moment later, Sokka was shouting for someone, and suddenly both Aang and Katara were joining him by Sokka’s side, as Zuko’s head lulled to the side, and everything suddenly went dark.

His inner flame had gone out.

How had he miss that?


	2. Chapter 2

“Aang! I think somethings wrong with Zuko!” Sokka called out, as he set the fire bender down on the ground to sit.

Aang looked over and froze at the sight of Zuko. Fire benders naturally ran warm, so there was no good reason for Zuko’s lips to be turning blue or for his breath to be coming out in fogs like they were still in the South Pole.

His friend Kuzon had told him about this.

Aang bolted over to the fire bender’s side, just in time to see Zuko’s eyes roll back in his head, and then the fire bender went limp in Sokka’s arms.

Aang looked up at Katara and ordered, “Start a fire. Sokka go get the warmest sleeping bag and a few blankets. Now!”

Neither of the Water Tribe siblings made a move.

“Fire benders regulate their body heat with their inner flame, and I think Zuko’s went out. If we do nothing, he is going to die!” Aang shouted, and the two jumped into action, leaving Aang to draw warm air currents over the fire bender.

Kuzon had told him about this. And Aang knew that either the fire bender needed to have another fire bender relight that inner flame or they would have to find a way to do so themselves. Aang should have taken Zuko back to his ship.

_He should have known that this could happen to Zuko!_

Certainly, it would have been better if Zuko had got at least a fighting chance to run away from Zhao rather than die like this!

Aang wouldn’t let Zuko die like this!

He barely took note of Momo curling up on top of Zuko’s stomach.

There was the sound of a fire cracking to life behind him, and Sokka was suddenly there with the sleeping bag and blankets, as well as his parka.

“Good idea, Sokka,” Aang breathed in relief, as some of Zuko’s color began returning to his face. “Get that on him and then get in the sleeping bag with him. Katara is a water bender, so she runs cool.”

Sokka hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t argue.

Instead, he slipped the parka, his parka, on Zuko, before pulling the sleeping bag around the fire bender and squeezing his way in next to him.

That didn’t stop the nonbender from screeching out, “Cold! Cold! Cold!”

Aang dragged their sleeping bag over closer to the fire. Probably too close, but he wasn’t going to risk taking any chances with this.

_If only he knew fire bending!_ Then he could have just lit the flame himself. Instead, he had run away from being the Avatar, and now Zuko might die because of that mistake.

At least with the fire going, he could channel some of the heated air over the sleeping bag, as Katara draped the blankets over her brother and Zuko.

They had done all they could for the moment.

He staggered back, before sinking to his knees.

All they could do now was wait and pray to the spirits.

Aang felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

He looked up at Katara, feeling utterly helpless, and pleaded, “Keep the fire going. If you get tired, wake me up. We are going to have to sleep in shifts until Zuko is out of the woods.”

“Okay, get some sleep,” Katara answered, adding a few more sticks to the growing fire.

Aang took one last look at Zuko, who had started shivering, a good sign. His body must have warmed up enough to do that, and then he laid down and passed out cold.

* * *

It was three days before Zuko finally woke up.

Or at least that was what the Avatar and his friends told him.

He’d woken up, held by Sokka, his face buried in the warrior’s neck. He knew he should struggle away from the embrace, but his limbs felt too heavy and too weak to manage it.

So he didn’t even try.

Instead, he let Sokka help him sit up, and didn’t fight when Katara forced a bowl of warm soup down his throat.

He’d almost died, and his enemies had saved him.

Zuko probably couldn’t call them that anymore. Not after this.

Any illusion in his mind that they had brought him with him as some sort of trick had pretty much vanished the morning he woke up, held in Sokka’s arms.

He didn’t know how to relight his inner fire. Uncle had always been the one to do that for him before, and he hadn’t advanced enough in his training to learn how to do so himself. So until his ankle healed and the Avatar and his friends took Zuko back to his ship... Zuko had to accept that not only was he now stuck with the Avatar and his friends, but that he was also at their complete and utter mercy.

Which was something that they seemed to have plenty of and were freely willing to give to him.

There would be no capturing the Avatar now.

Not when delivering the child to his father would be a death sentence for the child. (Well not a literal one, but being locked away in an Avatar proof bunker, built by his great grandfather, was pretty close to being one anyway.)

So they had robbed him of his one and only chance to return home and reclaim his honor in exchange for allowing him to live.

Life debts were best when shared among your allies and not the people you found yourself tasked with hunting. And Zuko had found himself trapped in one with the Avatar and his friends.

Honor demanded his obedience to it, and Zuko, even without his honor, knew that he must follow the terms of his debt.

Sokka left the sleeping bag that they had shared to help once again pack up their camp.

Zuko had never felt more helpless.

Avatar Aang came by partway through packing to check up on him, asking, “How’s your inner flame?”

“Gone…” Was Zuko’s single word answer.

Part of him had wanted to lie and claim he was back to normal, and hoping that he would die left out to the elements. But then the child’s efforts, and that of his friends, would have been wasted.

Aang looked sad, but he drew some hot air from the still blazing fire into the sleeping bag and then went back to work. A worried look on his face the entire time.

The fire bender only wished that he could have had better news for the child.

They were back in the sky within the hour, and he found Sokka pressed against him inside the sleeping bag. Katara was left to steer Appa, as Aang had taken it upon himself to keep up with directing regular intervals of warm air over Zuko.

This time the flight wasn’t spent in silence, as Sokka had seemingly taken it upon himself to keep up an unending stream of chatter about every single thought that passed through his head.

Zuko couldn’t help but find it comforting.

Though much of what the warrior talked about seemed random and mostly things Zuko had already realized, there were a few things that stood out to him. The chief among those things was about the Southern Raiders.

Fire Nation history books claimed that those had begun due to a threat that the Water Tribes had presented, but from what Sokka claimed, the attacks had come unprompted, and the Southern Tribe had lost nearly all of their water benders to them.

Katara being the sole survivor of her bending culture.

Zuko had his suspicions that his great grandfather Fire Lord Sozin had begun the raids in a vain attempt to capture the Avatar, who would have been born into the water tribes if the genocide of the Air Nomads had been as complete as the man had hoped it was.

To imagine that all that time, the man had been so close to being right about where the Avatar was. And yet Fire Lord Sozin had been so wrong about _who_ the Avatar was the entire time.

Zuko didn’t voice this.

But then the topic had shifted to a story about fishing, and Sokka had asked, “So what’s the biggest fish you ever caught?”

“I… Uh… I’ve never been fishing. So I don’t really have an answer for that,” Zuko answered honestly. “Some of my men seemed to enjoy the task when they would be assigned to it.”

Sokka went quiet and looked at the fire bender with an odd look on his face, a look that Zuko was quickly coming to realize might be some form of pity.

His next words probably didn’t help in that regard because he found himself explaining, “There would be times that the ship’s budget would run out before we would be sent more money, and my men would have to take to either hunting or fishing, so we would have something to eat with our rice.”

“Do you know how to fish?” Sokka asked, sounding like that wasn’t the question that he’d wanted to voice.

Zuko could guess what the warrior actually wanted to know…

_You’re the prince of a nation. Why would you ever run out of money for things like food?_

And the answer to that was… Complicated. _The answer had been promoted to an admiral._

But Zuko didn’t want to explain how Zhao had been the one appointed to holding onto the money sent to help Zuko run The Dragon’s Claw, and that there were times that the man would withhold that very money, with flimsy claims that the money was merely late in arriving. A trap to keep Zuko’s ship in his ports for extended periods.

So instead, Zuko answered the question that Sokka had given voice to, saying, “No… I never really saw a point in learning how.”

“Would you like to learn?”

The question took Zuko by surprise, and for a moment, he was unsure of how to answer. It was something he had never really given thought to. Certainly back on his ship, he had found more pressing things to worry about, such as his training and his hunt for the Avatar. There simply hadn’t been a point in even asking himself if he _wanted_ to learn.

“I don’t really know…” Zuko managed, trying and failing not to sound awkward, but he pressed on, “It might be worth learning how to do.”

Sokka’s face lit up like Zuko had passed some sort of test, and he turned to look at his sister, shouting, “Hey, is there a river we can land near? Prince Jerkbender doesn’t know how to fish!”

Katara looked back at her brother like she was about to tell him off, but then she paused and sighed, “Fine.”

The sky bison began its descent.

It appeared that Zuko was going to be learning how to fish.

Fishing as it turned out was a lot like meditating with a flame. Only instead of the fire reacting to the movements within himself, he was responding to the movements within the water.

It was a simple enough task, and he could see why many of his men had enjoyed it.

Aang and Katara practiced their water bending, while Sokka explained how fishing worked.

However, Zuko didn’t catch anything, and the one time he felt something tug on the line, he hadn’t been able to reel the creature in. Instead allowing the rod to slip through his fingers.

He hadn’t realized how much losing his fire had weakened him. Nor had he realized just how much he had relied on it up until now.

Sokka had been able to catch the rod before it flew too far from Zuko’s grasp, but the fish had gotten away when the line had gone slack. Still, the warrior seemed to think that this failure was somehow a good start.

Zuko couldn’t see how, though he was certainly willing to try again once his strength returned.

For now, he was willing to content himself with simply watching as Sokka demonstrated himself and trying to soak up as much of the sun’s rays as he could.

* * *

Sokka was trying and failing to concentrate on his fishing, with Zuko sitting beside him.

The fire bender needed to stay warm, and so he was pretty much plastered to Sokka’s side, and he was still cold. Not as cold as he had been when the guy had been on the verge of freezing to death… But still, Zuko was notably cool to the touch. And while Sokka decidedly liked the pressure of Zuko leaning against him, the fire bender being cold didn’t sit right with Sokka.

But it wasn’t like Aang or Katara could provide Zuko with the needed extra warmth, both tending to run naturally cooler than Sokka. So he didn’t complain.

Actually, he found himself secretly pleased to be the one stuck with the task.

Sokka liked the feeling of someone relying on him.

_That was selfish of him, wasn’t it?_

He shouldn’t be happy that Zuko was in this position, and he wasn’t. He would much rather that Zuko’s inner flame hadn’t gone out and that Zuko hadn’t gotten himself hurt. Sure this meant that they didn’t have to worry about the fire bender chasing them for some time, but mostly Sokka realized he just didn’t like the idea that somehow Zuko had ended up getting himself hurt.

Either way, during those three days, Zuko had been out cold, quite literally, Aang had brought up the idea of keeping Zuko with them, instead of taking him back to the guy’s ship once he had finished healing.

Sokka and Katara agreed. They couldn’t send Zuko back to people who had stood by and allowed Fire Lord Ozai to do what he’d done to Zuko. It wouldn’t be right.

Even if this meant trying to find a way to convince Zuko that staying with them was a good idea.

But there was the matter of adjusting to having an extra member of their group that they hadn’t considered. (And it definitely didn’t help that in his current state, Zuko would be utterly dependent on them for his ensured survival.)

So when they heard the sound of an attacking platypus bear nearby, they reacted without taking a moment to stop and think about the fact that Zuko couldn’t walk without help.

It wasn’t until it had started raining that Sokka realized their mistake.

“We forgot, Zuko!”

Aang and Katara went pale, and then the three raced back to where they had abandoned the fire bender.

Zuko had seemingly crawled his way under the cover of a tree and tried to start a campfire, but he hadn’t yet tried to start it. He was instead choosing to stare at the hastily built pile of twigs and kindling blankly, as though he had no idea of how to light it without his bending.

And really who could blame him for that.

Fire benders didn’t need to know how to start a fire. They had their bending for that.

Zuko looked up at them, and the look of confusion that crossed his face didn’t do anything to help the guilt Sokka was now feeling.

“You… You came back for me?”

Aang answered for them while blasting Zuko with air to dry him off, saying, “Sorry, we didn’t mean to leave you behind. This really nice traveler was getting attacked by a platypus bear, and we had to go help him.”

Zuko looked from Aang to Katara and then finally to Sokka as though he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to that.

Thankfully the fire bender didn’t have to, as Aang was already handing over the umbrella that the traveler had given them, saying, “There is a village nearby, so we can wait out the rain there. Plus, they have a fortune teller!”

“Thank you…” Zuko answered, and he accepted the umbrella without further comment.

Sokka looked up at Appa’s saddle and realized that having Zuko ride on the sky bison while it was raining might not be the best idea. Water was probably collecting in the saddle at this very moment, and having Zuko sit there as they walked would pretty much guarantee that the fire bender was going to get wet. And with Zuko’s current predicament with his lack of an inner flame, Zuko would probably get sick or worse.

So there really was only one option.

He had to suppress his groan at the realization.

“Okay, Jerkbender, you’re riding on my back while we walk to town. So try not to strangle me,” He sighed as he made his way over to Zuko before turning away for the guy and squatting down. “If you use that umbrella, we’ll both stay dry so win-win.”

Zuko, as expected, hesitated before he huffed angrily and swallowed his pride.

If Zuko didn’t have a broken leg, then the guy could have just wrapped his legs around the warrior’s middle. But his right ankle had barely even had the chance to start healing, so that was out of the question.

No, instead, Sokka had to hold the guy by his thighs, while Zuko used his free hand to hold onto Sokka’s shoulder, while the other held the umbrella over their heads. And while Zuko may have lost some weight during the past few days, he wasn’t light by any means.

Zuko was still a soldier, even if he was also a prince, and soldiers tended to have a pretty solid level of muscle mass.

Though he didn’t weigh nearly as much as Sokka had assumed that he would.

_He did say that stuff earlier about his ship having budget issues._

Sokka felt bile rise in his throat at that thought, but he doubted right now was the best time to ask about that. Though it did make him wonder just how often those issues had arisen on the guy’s ship.

He made a mental note to make sure that Zuko ate as much as they could afford, while he was with them.

Maybe enough good meals would convince Zuko to stay when the time came for him to leave.

Maybe fifteen to twenty minutes later, Katara finally broke the silence and said, “It looks like Aunt Wu was right about the rain.”

“Of course she predicted it was going to rain. The sky's been gray all day,” Sokka snarked back, his muscles beginning to burn from carrying the fire bender.

Katara shrugged, still using her bending to keep herself and Aang dry from the light rain.

“Look, I'm going to predict the future now!” Sokka challenged. “It's going to keep drizzling.”

But before he could get another word in edgewise, the rain all but stopped. Only a few stray drops of water hitting the covering of the umbrella before those too stopped altogether.

“Not everyone has the gift, Sokka,” Aang said with a smile, as Katara’s hand dropped from above their heads and back to her side.

Zuko finally spoke back up, as he passed the umbrella over to Aang, who closed it up, “Who is Aunt Wu?”

“She’s the fortune teller in the town we’re headed to,” Sokka answered, as he readjusted his grip on the guy’s legs, hoping for a more comfortable hold.

Zuko’s voice seemed to light up at that, “Can we see her while we’re in town? I’ve only ever had my fortune told by the Fire Sages before.”

“Fortune tellers are scam artists,” Sokka scoffed. “I didn’t peg you as someone who bought into that nonsense.”

Zuko seemed to stiffen, as though he’d been insulted before snapping, “Yeah? Well, Fire Sage Shyuu told my family that Sozin’s Comet will mark the end of the war and bring about a new era of peace.”

Sokka stopped walking for a moment and screwed his head back enough to look at Zuko out of the corner of his eye. Confusion and wariness creeping through him.

“Why else would we have bothered with the Siege of Ba Sing Se?” Zuko lectured. “Fire Nation victory in this war was given a time limit.”

Sokka didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but it made sense.

The Fire Nation was making its final push in the war, hoping that on the day that the comet finally came, there would be no question that they would succeed. Even now, they were probably trying to maneuver their troops into position for that very day, so comet powered fire benders would be able to decimate whatever enemies of theirs remained.

“And Aang is the only thing standing in the way of that victory…” Sokka realized in complete and utter horror. “Is that why you’ve been hunting Aang? To help ensure that victory?”

“No…” Zuko answered, voice going hollow. “The Generals never factored in the Avatar’s return and when I was given that mission… Everyone thought that the cycle had been broken. That maybe the Avatar had been in the Avatar State during the last comet…”

Aang asked, confusion clear as day in his voice, as they resumed walking, “Why would me being in the Avatar State mean the cycle was broken?”

“Because if you had died in it, then there wouldn’t be another Avatar. You would have been gone, permanently,” Zuko answered, and everyone fell silent.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they arrived in Makapu Village, a man with white hair and dressed in black robes, greeted them, opening the door to the building he stood outside, saying, “Aunt Wu is expecting you.”

Zuko felt the childish urge to stick his tongue out at Sokka.

_ See, Aunt Wu isn’t a fraud! She knew we were coming! _

Once inside, they were immediately greeted by the sight of a girl around Aang’s age, holding a tray of fresh tea and a bowl of steaming bean curd puffs. Yet there were only three pillows set out for their group to sit on.

Zuko found himself sitting in Sokka’s lap, proving that the number of sitting pillows had been correct and not a simple miscalculation.

The tea was okay.  _ No one could make tea like his uncle, after all. _

Meng, the girl, had called herself Meng, smiled at the pair, and squealed, “The two of you make an adorable couple!”

“We’re not-” Sokka and Zuko began, fluttered and awkwardly, but the girl had already switched her attention over to Aang and his ears.

Zuko felt a silent rumble of laughter pass through the Water Tribe warrior’s chest, and he got the feeling that he had missed out on some sort of inside joke. So he decided to glare at Sokka.

Sokka, however, smiled innocently at him and said, “I’ll tell you about that later, Pretty Boy.”

The heat that rose to his face was immediate, as his eyes went wide.

No one had- People didn’t- Ever since his scar-

His heart started racing at those two words. Words he had never thought he would hear in reference to himself. He tried to hide the thrill those words had sent through him by glaring at Sokka, but the heat wouldn’t leave his face, and Sokka’s own face lit up as though Zuko had handed him a baby turtleduck.

“No way! You like being called cute!” Sokka declared with a wide smile.

Zuko blushed even harder as he shouted back, “No, I don’t!”

“Your adorable blushing face says otherwise,” Sokka said with glee.

The fire bender tried to bury his face in his hands, grateful that he’d left the hood of Sokka’s parka up, but the warrior pulled his hands away from his burning face.

“Don’t tease me! I know what my face looks like!” Zuko shouted as he ripped his hands away from Sokka’s grasps. But Sokka wouldn’t stop lying to him and calling him pretty. He was like a dog with a bone, and Zuko didn’t know what else to do to shut the guy up.

He surged forward, without thinking, throwing his arms around the warrior’s shoulders, and kissed him.

* * *

Sokka had called Zuko  _ pretty boy _ as a joke because Meng had mistaken them for a couple, but Zuko’s reaction to the pet name had been the highlight of his day so far. So dispute the fire bender’s protests that he didn’t like being called pretty, Sokka had pressed on, wanting to see just how bright red he could get Zuko’s face to go.

What he hadn’t been expecting was for the fire bender to kiss him.

But before Sokka could react beyond his stunned silence, Zuko pulled away from the kiss.

Sokka was stunned silent.

_ How did he get his lips so soft? They should have been all chapped from seawater. He lives on a boat. How does he have lips that soft? _

“You wouldn’t shut up…” Zuko whispered, his lips almost touching Sokka’s own as he spoke.

Sokka wouldn’t even have to really even lean in if he wanted to return that kiss.

“I know what my face looks like.”

All he would have to do was cross that finger’s width of a distance, and he would have those soft lips pressed against his own again.

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

_ Wait… What? _

Sokka was shocked out of his thoughts, as Zukok’s face pulled away from his own.

“What are you talking about?”

Zuko didn’t say anything. Instead, he tugged the hood of the parka further over his face. Casting his face into shadows and darkness.

Sokka slowly understood, and found an answer, “Oh… Zuko, I wasn’t lying. But if I crossed a line, then I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one who kissed you without asking, just to get you to shut up. I’m the one who should apologize,” Zuko answered, but he didn’t sound like he actually believed Sokka.

“Look,” Sokka began, probably about to shove his foot in his mouth. “I might think your hair looks stupid, but I really wasn’t lying about your face.”

Golden eyes glared out from the parka’s hood at him, but Zuko didn’t say anything.

“Did I cross a line?”

Zuko shook his head, but before either of them could say anything more, Aang walked back into the waiting room. Neither of the males had even noticed that the kid had left.

“Hey, where did you go?” Sokka asked, confused and yet a little bit relieved that Aang may have missed him accidentally tormenting the fire bender until he’d been forcibly shut up.

Of course, Aang’s answer had to be, “I went to use the bathroom while the two of you were flirting.”

Sokka opened his mouth to deny it, but he paused.

He’d sat there telling Zuko that the guy was pretty because he had decided that he liked seeing the fire bender blush. And that probably did count as flirting, even if Zuko was now loudly denying that was what had happened at all.

Sokka didn’t say anything.

He’d really sat there flirting with the Fire Lord’s son of all people, hadn’t he… He should feel weird about that. Instead, all he could feel was the ghost of Zuko’s soft lips on his mouth and the cool pressure of the fire bender sitting in his lap because Sokka was currently acting as a human hot pack for the guy.

A few minutes later, Aunt Wu returned with Katara, who seemed to be very happy about whatever nonsense that the woman had fed her.

Sokka didn’t like the quiet, so he ended it himself before it could even begin.

“I guess I’m next, so let’s just get this over with-” He started, but the fortune teller stopped him saying, “You already know your future. You just need to accept it.”

Sokka had no idea what the woman was talking about, so he scoffed, “But, you didn’t read my palms or anything!”

Aunt Wu raised an eyebrow at him and said cryptically, “You hold your own future in your hands. You don’t need me to tell you that. The boy in your lap, however, is next.”

And with that, she walked back into the hall behind the room divider.

Sokka frowned, but scooped Zuko up into his arms and carried the shrieking fire bender, as he followed the fortune teller.

* * *

Sokka set Zuko down on the cushion across from Aunt Wu, and Zuko wondered how exactly this woman was planning to read his future. The Fire Sages had a certain level of fondness for the oracle bones, but he knew that the different nations all had their own ways of doing these kinds of things.

Aunt Wu glanced between him and Sokka before she smiled and asked, “I am sure there are many things that you would like to know. Let’s start with how long you are going to be without your inner fire.”

Zuko felt hope well up inside him at those words, and he nodded.

“Are you familiar with oracle bones?” The fortune-teller asked.

The fire bender confirmed, “I am…”

“This is the most reliable method of telling one’s fortune. The bones never lie,” She explained for Sokka’s benefit. “The heat makes cracks in the bones, and I read the bone cracks to tell someone’s destiny.”

Then she gestured to the bowl of bones between them, and Zuko selected one before tossing it into the fire crackling in the center of the room.

The bone gave several audible cracks, and the woman studied it with the same vigor that Zuko had his scrolls about the Avatar.

“You won’t have to search out someone to help you relight your fire. Your path appears that it will cross with someone who can do so. So I wouldn’t worry too much about that. A dragon tends to its own,” Aunt Wu assured him.

Sokka made a face of confusion, but Zuko understood. He had been expecting that his uncle wouldn’t stay put and simply just wait for Zuko to return to The Dragon’s Claw. He did wonder how the man had explained his disappearance from the ship to Admiral Zhao.

“Is there anything else about my future that you see?” Zuko asked, his worry about whether he would live to see the comet rising up within him. Just because he would get his bending back didn’t mean that he would survive the war.

Not when he found himself honor-bound to fulfill his life debt to the Avatar and the child’s friends.

“Yes,” Aunt Wu confirmed. “You feel conflicted about the path that lays before you. Duty asks of you what your destiny refuses. You are torn between these two paths, and yet you know that you may only take one of these. And you fear that you are choosing the wrong one. Either path will lead you through hardships, but only one will give you the peace that you so desperately seek.”

_ That wasn’t cryptic at all. _

But she didn’t seem to have more to say on the subject, as she rose from where she sat and finished, “The path of balance will lead you to peace.”

Zuko understood what that meant, or at least he hoped that he did.

Sozin’s Comet would usher in peace, and if Zuko made the wrong choice, he would die.

His mind was swirling, as Sokka carried him back to the waiting room so that Aang could have his turn.

All the while, Sokka was saying, “That could mean anything. It was so vague that any outcome would look like it lined up with her prediction. Granted, I don’t know what all of that dragon talk was about. But according to Aang, any fire bender with enough skill can do that. So even that is vague enough to mean anything.”

Zuko stayed silent and found it all too easy to ignore the warrior and his sister arguing about Aunt Wu and her predictions.

The fire bender, on the other hand, was too wrapped up in thoughts about which duty was in opposition to his destiny. He had a duty to his father and one to the Avatar. One a duty of a prince to their ruler and the other a duty to the debt of life he now owed.

The fortune teller’s prediction had only left him with even more questions than before.

_ Why couldn’t anything in his life ever be simple? _

* * *

Aang had seen Zuko kiss Sokka. It was clear that Zuko had done it to shut Sokka up, but Aang hesitated for a moment. He didn’t think that Sokka and Zuko had intended for him to witness that moment. The two had gotten so caught up in what seemed like flirting to Aang that he doubted that they had even noticed him sneak off.

Though claiming he was going to use the bathroom and going unheard seemed less like sneaking off and more like he hadn’t needed to bother with the excuse in the first place.

Later that day, Aang watching as Sokka insisted that a man needed to take a bath regardless of Aunt Wu’s instructions. (Zuko appeared to agree with this one. Though he was doing so silently, as he was beginning to doze off comfortably held in place on Sokka’s back.)

Aang watched the old man walking away, leaving a trail of dirt lightly billowing behind him, and even he had to admit that the man might need to, at the very least, dust himself off. But it wasn’t really his place to say anything about that.

It was the Avatar’s job to keep balance, not to tell people when to take a bath.

However, Sokka might be a good person to ask about Katara, seeing as he’d managed to flirt his way into Zuko kissing him.

“So, Sokka, you know some stuff about romance, right?” Aang took the change and asked, albeit somewhat sheepishly.

Sokka seemed to be positively delighted by his question, and leaned in, accidentally jostling Zuko from his near dozing, and said, “Some stuff? You've come to the right place. What can I do you for?”

Zuko made a grunt of displeasure at having been prevented from taking his nap, but Aang pressed on, figuring that the fire bender might have some advice as well, “Well, there’s this girl… I really like her, but I don’t know how to tell her.”

Sokka, for his part, seemed to have a ready and immediate answer, saying, “The number one mistake nice guys like you make: being too nice.”

“You can be too nice?”

The warrior confirmed sagely, “Yup. If you want to keep her interested, you have to act aloof, like you don't really care one way or the other.”

“No, that is completely stupid,” Zuko scoffed, looking tempted to kick Sokka in the shin, with his good foot, for even suggesting that.

Sokka laughed and asked, “Oh? So do you have any better advice, Pretty Boy?”

“Actually, yes, I do,” Zuko snapped, blushing from the pet name. “I’ve seen plenty of romance plays to know how this kind of thing works. The hero in those stories would always give the girl some flowers or perform some sort of grand romantic gesture.”

“Those were plays!” Sokka argued, but Aang decided to leave the two males to their bickering and think about the clashing advice that the two had given him.

It also didn’t really help that Sokka’s advice seemed to directly contradict his behavior with Zuko.

He should probably just go with Zuko’s advice.

Katara was buying papaya from a fruit vender’s stall.

“I thought you hated papaya?”

Katara looked up from her purchase and smiled at him before grimacing and sighing, “Yeah, but Aunt Wu said I should have papaya for breakfast tomorrow. So papaya it is.”

“You could just eat that on the side, though,” Aang answered with a smile, before picking up an apple and holding it out to her.

Katara’s face went from glum to happy as she accepted the offered fruit and laughed, “You know what? You are absolutely right. Thanks, Aang.”

“Sure thing! Anytime!”

The water bender paid for the fruit and then said, “I’ll go pack these with our things. Then I’m going back to Aunt Wu for another reading.”

As she walked away, Aang looked over at the couple standing together across the street and saw the man handing the woman a flower. Her reaction cemented that Zuko’s advice was the way to go.

Now he just had to get his hands on one of those flowers.

They could leave Zuko in Katara’s care while he and Sokka went to go get the flower. Sokka might like to get one for Zuko while they were at it.

* * *

Aang and Sokka had left him with Katara.

Zuko didn’t care.

It wasn’t like he’d wanted to burden Sokka while the guy climbed the volcano anyways. Besides, Katara didn’t call him pretty boy just to make him blush. And he was sure she would have more appreciation for plays then Sokka seemingly had.

Katara thankfully proved him right, while he was reciting Love Amongst the Dragons, when she asked, “And then what happened?”

“Well, Noren was able to defeat the Dark Water Spirit, and through his love for the mortal woman, the curse was lifted. The mortal woman was revealed actually to be the Dragon Empress,” Zuko answered, with a smile.

“That sounds incredibly romantic! If we run across anyone putting on the play, the two of us have to drag Aang and Sokka to go see it.”

Zuko nodded and laughed, “Well, I’m sure that they won’t be any worse than the Ember Island Players. My mom used to take Azula and me to go see them every summer…”

But he trailed off, his joyful mood coming to an abrupt end at the thought of his mother.

“Are you okay?” Katara asked, sensing his change in mood.

Zuko stayed silent for a moment before he finally answered, “It's been a long time since I saw my mom. I miss her.”

“Oh, that’s right. You probably haven't seen her since you were banished… I’m sorry.”

But Zuko shook his head and said, “No, she vanished when I was eleven. We weren't allowed to mention her after that. It was like she never even existed in the first place.”

He couldn’t bear to look at the water bender and see the pity in her face after what he’d told her. He didn’t want anyone’s pity.

“I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid when I was little. My necklace was all I had left of her…” Katara answered sympathetically.

Zuko felt a twinge of guilt at those words. He had pretty much stolen that necklace by not giving it back to the girl.

“I’m sorry. If I’d brought it with me, when I went to rescue Aang, I would have given it back to you when I woke up at your camp.”

Katara was quiet for a moment before she offered, “Well, when you've finished healing, you can always go back to your ship and get it for me. We can call it payment for me treating your ankle.”

“Deal.”

But before their conversation could go further, Aang and Sokka were rushing over to them with panic on their faces.

And really Zuko should have known that they would stick him with Aunt Wu in her reading room, while they went off to fight a mountain. There was a nice cheery fire that could keep him warm while he waited for… He wouldn’t say, friends. While his allies saved the town.

He wished that he could be more useful to their group, but there wasn’t much that he could actually do without his fire bending and a broken ankle.

So he waited.

Not knowing if Aang could succeed where Avatar Roku had failed, because if a fully realized Avatar found his death at the hands of a volcano, how was a kid with only air bending and the smallest amount of water bending going to win against a mountain of fire?

* * *

The sight of golden eyes transfixed by the fire in front of them reminded Sokka of what Zuko had lost so soon after joining their group. How in only the matter of a few days, he had adjusted to a fireless Zuko was almost startling.

The fire bender had been throwing fireballs at them since the first day they had met the guy, and Sokka couldn’t help but imagine how he would feel if he lost his boomerang.

Aunt Wu was out in her greeting room thanking Aang for saving the village, so it was just him and Zuko.

The warrior fished the crumpled panda lily out from his pocket and sat down by the guy before holding it out to him, saying, “I saw it while up on the mountain with Aang, and I thought of you. I figured that you might like it. Aang dropped his into the volcano, so I was thinking of giving this to him to give to whatever girl he was talking about, but you look like you could use the pick me up.”

Zuko looked away from the fire and at the flower.

For a moment, that was all he did, before finally reaching out and accepting the gift with a small smile and tucking it into his parka.

“Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it.”

Zuko sighed and leaned against Sokka’s side, more out of habit by this point than anything Sokka was sure. But that didn’t keep his heart from doing something funny at the contact.

He might not be able to give Zuko his bending back, but he could do his best to keep the fire bender from being sad. It was the least he could do when he was pretty sure that it had been his fault that the guy had lost his bending in the first place. What with all of his questions that first day with Zuko on Appa.

Zuko’s next words were hollow and full of sadness, “My father told me once that Azula was born lucky and that I was lucky to be born. I don’t think he ever cared about me… When I spoke out of turn, that had been entirely my fault, though.”

“I’d begged Uncle to let me into that war meeting, and when I’d heard about the plan to sacrifice the 41st Division as a distraction, I couldn’t stay quiet. I later learned from Uncle that my father had pre-approved General Bujing’s plan and that it being talked about during that meeting was just a formality to make the other generals aware of it. It wasn’t my father that I dishonored by not fighting in the Agni Kai. It was those soldiers who I dishonored. My shameful weakness wasn't a refusal to fight my father. It was because I was not fighting for the men I had tried to save.”

“What happened to those men?” Sokka almost didn’t want to know.

“Someone sent them a letter about what I had done, and they vanished,” Zuko answered. “Not sending the letter with their orders for the battle until after the Agni Kai was a formality that had to be observed since if I had fought and managed to win, my father would have been honor-bound to spare their lives. My failure bought them the time they needed to escape. They haven't been seen since.”

A plan began to form in Sokka’s mind at those words. Fire benders who weren't sided with the Fire Lord meant that they could find someone who could give Zuko his bending back.

He just had to find them first...


End file.
